Color Fields in Vector Space

Written for 18 performers, Color Fields in Vector Space is an exploration of percussive timbre and space, utilizing small ensembles of similar instruments (metals, woods, drums) placed around the audience.

“Color Fields in Vector Space” was conceived originally as an exploration of timbre and space utilizing multiple small ensembles of like instruments (metals, woods, drums) placed around the audience. However, despite my best efforts, accounting for many performers spread over a large distance via paper & pencil proved to be quite tedious. Eventually, I came to realize that it would be much easier to compose in a digital environment which simulated the correct spacialization of the performers. This resulted in a reversal of my usual writing process by which I first performed and recorded each of the eighteen parts into a computer before ever committing a note to paper. In fact, “writing” the notes - in a traditional sense - comprised only the final few days of the entire composition process.

It was during this time that I remembered the term “vector space” used by artificial intelligence researchers in the development of autonomous driving technologies. Simply put, a vehicle’s cameras capture real-world images and render them into a three-dimensional, digital “vector space” in order to “see” and understand all of the complexities of its surrounding environment and act accordingly. I found this process to be very similar to how this piece was created and so, with a nod to the art genre that I find fascinating, along came the title “Color Fields in Vector Space.”